Postal tablet



(No Model) C. ROWLAND. POSTAL TABLET.

No. 367,163. Patented July .26, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE-o CHARLES ROWLAND, OF QUINCY, ILLINOIS.

POSTAl.

TABLETr SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patenta No. 367,163, dated July 26, 1887 Application filed November 20, 1883. Serial No. 112.302. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may cancer/b:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ROWLAND, of Quincy, in' the county of Adams and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Inprovenentin Postal Tablets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the'acconpanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to writing sheets or cards, which I designate as postal tablets, and the novelty consists in the Construction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, and specifically pointed out in the clains.

The device is preferably made of stiff paper or cardboard, and the blank from which the device is formed is of approximate diamond shape. This diamond form assumes a rectangular form when the flaps are folded upon the body, and thejlines of demarkation, where the folds are to be made, are formed by pressing in the material from opposite sides. When folded, the points of the flaps are adjacent to each other while the edges of each flap lie close to the edges of the flaps adjacent. The points of the flaps are Secured together by a. gummed securi'ng-fiap, which may be fornied either integral with one of the folding flaps or in a separate piece to be attached thereto;

or the flaps may be secured together by a separate gunmed wafer. The invention is` fully-illnstrated in the acconpanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a diagran showing the blanks cut out of a sheet of proper material, w-ith the secnring-flap integral with one of the folding flaps of each tablet. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the blanks cut with a View to the employment of separate securing flaps or wafers, the points of all the flaps being adapted to lie close together at the center when the tablet is folded. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the blanks, the folding-lines being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 4 is a similar View showing the device folded as an article of commerce; and Fig. 5 is an edge section, on an enlarged scale, of a part, showing the folding-line pressed in froni either side, compacting the material at that point to form ai durable and strong hinge. v

Referring to the drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, A desi gnates the material of which the blanks Bare cut, which material is preferably stift' paper or card-board. By suitable machinery the material is cut in the forms shown in Fig. l-t'hat is to say, with a gumming-flap, c, integral with one of the flaps b, or in the form of a diamond, as 'shown in Fig. 2.. Each blank when cut is composed of a body, D, and four folding flaps, b. The form of the blank is such that when the flaps are folded inward upon the body, and the edges of adjacent flaps lie close to each other, the folding-lines will describe thebody as of rectangular form, and the points of all the flaps will be adjacent'to each other at the center of the .body. The blank at these folding-lines is pressed inward from opposite sides to form a compressed hinge, as shown at f, Fig. 5, and to make the folding-lines apparent. This is done by appropriate machinery, and may be accomplished at the same operation with the cutting.

When the device is in the form of a merchantable commodity, the flaps are folded upon the address side-that is to say, with the gnmmed side of the flap c outward, if that'form is employed.

The person using the tablet writes the message upon the exposed face, turns the flaps b, and seals the four points of the flaps together, after which he has only to write the address upon the opposite side.

The important and essential features of the invention accrue to theconstruction and arrangement of the folding flaps, to the nanner and means of securing the same when folded, and in the formation 'of the folding-lines.

It will be observed that the lines f insure that the points of the flaps will cone together at the center of the body, so that they nay be properly Secured together by the gunning flap when the device is folded.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters 'Patent of the United States, is

l. A postal tablet, substantially as describedf* composed essentially of a body, D, and four fiaps,`b, the said flaps having a combined area equal to that of thebody, and being so proportioned that when folded upon the IOO the four folding flaps, as shown, and the foldiig-lines f, fol-med by pressing the material inward froni opposite sides, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 1 20th day of November, 1883.

body in either direction the edge of one fiap Will abut against the edge of the adjaeent fiap, and their several points will meet at the eenter of thebody, as set forth.

2. A postal tablet consistig of the body D, having folding flaps b, said flaps b having a combined area equal to that of the body, and CHARLES RO\VLAND. one of the said fiaps having integral therewith Witnesses: i the gumming-flap c, substantially as set fo'th. L. C. YOUNG,

3. A postal tablet composed of a body, D, WM. M. SMITH. 

